Our View: About to sail & dragging anchor

January 20, 2006 12:00 am

About to sail: We applaud Crescent City resident Steve Hill for taking the initiative when he organized for the area's homeless a temporary shelter at the fairgrounds last weekend. From Jan. 12 through Monday, about 30 local residents  some of them children  stayed at the shelter, where they also received three meals a day during our unseasonably cold weather. Hill's work is an inspiration, showing that one man can make a difference.

Dragging anchor: From the "Just hope you're not the 125th passenger" file, a boo hiss to the nation's airlines. If flying one of the 20 largest carriers, the chances of your luggage being lost is about 1 in 125. SkyWest, the only carrier serving the Crescent City airport, ranked 15th worst of those airlines. If UPS lost every 125th package or if the Triplicate failed to deliver every 125th paper, both soon would be out of business.

About to sail: We're glad to see Our Daily Bread Ministries' effort to feed the community's hungry is no longer homeless. On Wednesday, the nonprofit served its first dinner to 40 of our community's members. It's one of the few concerted efforts locally to regularly feed the poor. And make no doubt about it  there are poor in our community.

Dragging anchor: The hit-and-run driver who fatally injured high school freshman Josh Lacy last week has yet to turn him or herself in. We had hoped that the driver only fled in a panic but possessed the conscience to come forward and accept responsibility. With each passing day, however, we wonder if we gave the driver too much of the benefit of the doubt.

About to sail: Crescent City officials continue to move forward on making the site of a former seafood processing plant more attractive for development. The Planning Commission approved and the City Council set a public hearing about loosening the height restrictions at the prime U.S. Hwy 101 lot. A taller building would not block views but would be more appealing to developers.

Dragging anchor: Here's another one for the "Government officials need to speak plainly" file: "Conformance." We came across this one while digging through some Department of Interiors' Minerals Management Service documents. The service's associate director wrote, "Her direction to staff has always been to perform our mission in conformance with the laws and regulations." How about, "She always expected her staff to follow the law"?